The Cypriot House of Representatives rejected overwhelmingly on Tuesday the bill that would have inflicted a haircut on bank accounts.

There were 36 No votes and not a single Yes vote, as the 19 deputies of ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) who were present abstained, while another one of them was absent.

Cyprus speaker Yiannakis Omirou urged MPs to say «no to blackmail» as angry crowds also called for a «No» vote outside Parliament and held up signs warning that other financially crippled European nations like Italy and Spain could be next in line.

"There can only be one answer: no to blackmail,» Omirou, of the socialist EDEK party told deputies who met in emergency session.

"Our demand must be that this deal must be renegotiated. If we pass this tax there will be no foreign investor who will keep their money here,» he warned.

"There is no doubt, this is the most crucial session of our parliament. There is unrest among the people and they deserve an answer,» EDEK MP George Varnavas told the assembly.

DISY had unanimously decided not to take part in the vote because «it will strengthen the bargaining position of the Republic of Cyprus,» party member Nicos Tornaritis told Sigma TV.

But DISY coalition partner Marios Karoyian of DIKO said the rescue package must be «rejected».

"This is blackmail and DIKO proposes the bill is rejected, but yes to an adjustment programme... We want a European rescue, not European destruction,» he told fellow MPs.

George Perdikes of the Green party told parliament: «There is now a creditocracy where countries lose their sovereignty for an illegal loan agreement that is supposedly good for them but kills growth."

European Party MP Demetris Syllouris charged that the bailout terms were designed to destroy the banking sector in Cyprus that had been flourishing for decades, and especially hit Russian investments.

"Our lenders came not to support us, they wanted to annihilate the pillar of our economy which is the service sector ... They (Germany) must find another way to resolve their differences with Russia,» he said.

Many Cypriots blame Germany for leading the crippling demands imposed in return for the bailout, in a bid to punish Russia, where investors have placed vast amounts of cash in the island's banks.

"Why are the foreigners to blame, we won't accept it, we would rather take the hit 100 percent on our wages and pensions rather than on those who supported us,» said Syllouris.

Thousands of protesters lined the streets leading to the parliament building in Nicosia, many of them waving Russian flags, an AFP reporter said.

They held up banners that read «Hands off Cyprus» and the crowds chanted: «It will not pass,» referring to the rescue package.

Many also carried signs written in Italian and in Spanish saying that both financially-crippled countries could be next in line to face a similar painful rescue deal.

Things will now get interesting. If the Russians don't come through, Cyprus is genuinely screwed. Their banks will reopen Thursday (ŧhere is news now suggesting that they may not-the "bank holiday" may be extended) at 0900 and very likely close for good at 0920. The two biggest banks, Laika Bank and Bank of Cyprus, are insolvent, and the Cypriot government can't absorb the collapse of those two. We'll likely see a systemic banking failure, in Southern Cyprus at least.

7
posted on 03/19/2013 11:47:32 AM PDT
by AnAmericanAbroad
(It's all bread and circuses for the future prey of the Morlocks.)

This seems to be a popular viewpoint, but what would they base there? At one of the last exercises in the Black Sea most of the ships couldn't even get out of port! I could understand this if they were shipbuilding at a phenomenal rate, trying to make a comeback in the world, etc.,, but their armed forces are but a shadow of their former selves.

They got caught by Twitter! The new media prevents a midnight coup. Like our roaches in Washington, if people find out how they are selling us out soon enough to turn on the lights, they scurry for the dark corners.
Lets remember this and turn on the lights in the legislative houses across the country.

21
posted on 03/19/2013 12:00:43 PM PDT
by Steamburg
(The contents of your wallet is the only language Politicians understand.)

Probably not; the way it works here is that the government only resigns if defeated on a “confidence” issue. Since the bill was not supported by the government (their members abstained from the vote), its defeat was not a vote against the government.

Not so weird, really. I personally admire Mr. Putin for protecting the interests of his people while the current administration here is willing to sell us out on topics like missile defense that are crucial to our very survival.
I also look at Syria and wonder what the hell Obama is trying to do by involving us ever deeper into yet another war in the Middle East?

Sad to say, but I trust the Russian government far more than I trust my own these days. You don’t hear of Russians giving rubber glove inspections to little kids, the elderly, and crippled veterans at THEIR airports, do you?

29
posted on 03/19/2013 12:12:28 PM PDT
by MeganC
(The left have so twisted public perceptions that the truth now appears pornographic.- SpaceBar)

“Stupid move to announce the wealth confiscation before making sure the law would be a done deal.”

The. wealth. confiscation. (You know. From those b*st*rds, The Rich. “Rich” being *anyone* who isn’t on the dole)

401Ks, IRAs, Bernanke talking about Social Security “because that’s where the money is” a few years ago, etc... uhhh H’lo?

There’s one thing that keeps going through my mind: the banks (in cahoots with their good buddies in Washington) can do whatever they damn well please with our money & there’s not a thing we can do about it.
I’m afraid we’re kidding ourselves if we think that being armed to the teeth can recover whatever they decide to steal.

“Engineers and hackers don’t think much about tax policy, but there’s a bizarre development in California that they should know about, since it could reduce the pool of angel-investment money available for tech startups. Under a tax break available since the 1990s, startup founders and other investors in California were allowed to exclude or defer their gains when they sold stock in California-based small businesses. Last year, a California appeals court ruled that the tax break was unconstitutional, since it discriminated against investors in out-of-state companies. Now the Franchise Tax Board, California’s version of the IRS, has issued a notice saying how it intends to implement the ruling  and it’s a doozie. Not only is the tax break gone, but anyone who claimed an exclusion or deferral on the sale of small-business stock since 2008 is about to get a big retroactive tax bill. Investors, entrepreneurs, and even the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit are up in arms about the FTB’s notice, saying that it goes beyond the court’s intent and that it will drive investors out of the state. This Xconomy article takes an in-depth look at the history of the court case, the FTB’s ruling, and the reaction in the technology and investing communities.”

He puts with it up when it serves Russia’s purposes, and sometimes it does. Classic realpolitik. No one has “friends”.....they have interests.

But I wouldn’t call Putin “anti-Muslim”. Perhaps “anti-Salafist” might be a better way of stating it.

As far as Islam growing as a religion in Russia, he seems to have no overt problem with that in and of itself. His hackles are raised when it’s the more extreme interpretations of Islam. Like the aforementioned Salafists.

40
posted on 03/19/2013 12:37:19 PM PDT
by AnAmericanAbroad
(It's all bread and circuses for the future prey of the Morlocks.)

Its strange being on the side of the former Warsaw Pact vs Nato in the coming proxy war.

Why on earth would you be on the side of Russia in any bailout deal having to do with Cyprus? They aren't the good guys here, they are simply looking to take advantage of the idiocy of voters in Cyprus who have elected bad governments for a very long time. The public sector in Cyprus is out of control, yet the people (through their elected governments) do not want to cut spending.

Europe has a voter problem (and that includes little Cyprus). These governments didn't get into power by themselves. People are voting for politicians and parties that run up huge debts. Creditors simply enable and then take advantage of them. Neither "banksters", globalists, Jews, or any other conspiratorial evil are the problem. The people are the problem. To the extent that Germany takes advantage of any of this issues is only possible because Europeans keep voting for governments that spend far more than they have.

Back in 98 when Lehrman and Bears Sterns exploded with a few banks right behind them till the camoflauge makers at the FED came in to prop them up with our money, I was certain there was going to be a bank holiday and pulled some cash out of the bank. I think I was a few years early and a few K too light on my ideas. Heading out tomorrow early to get my hands on what is left before it is gone too. Turn it around into hard assets as quick as I can too. The clock is ticking down to midnight on REV2...tick tick tick.

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